Self-releasing joist anchor



March 12, 1929. j OR ES 1,704,826

SELF RELEASIING JOIS'I' ANCHOR 'Filed Ja n. s, 1927 Patented Mar. 12,1929.

UNITED ST FREDERICK B. ronnnsyor SA TA MONICA, cannon-KIA.

sELr-nELEAsINe JOIST ANCHOR.

Application filed January 3, 1927. Serial Nb. 158,562.

As may be inferred from the above title, it

is an object of this invention to provide, for

use at the ends of horizontal or other floor or ceiling joists, orequivalent 1nembers,:an- 5 'choring: or retaining; devices soconstructed that; in case a central or intermediate supporter sectiongives way, the: said joists shall drop without dragging down those wallsby WlilChit'hB ends thereof-l may be" nor- 1 mally'supportedv W It beinga matter'ofi common; observation that? the damage" and loss of. lifewhich results'from fires, earthqual es',;or'the: like, is avoidablyincreased by any force: which tend'sto drag'iniward -the' walls" of abuilding; and thatwalls which might otherwise remain standing and; evenbe suitable for further use; are; often caused to totter' and fallby'reason ofi th'e'permanency of. the con-v motion of joint-endstherewith, it is an object' of my invention to provide means whereby, asa result'ofi heat duet-to combustion therebelow, or as a resultfof thetilting of'a-joist' or part thereof (as maybe' ocjca- 81011811 by a fireor from other causesy retaining member's, normally holding the joists towalls, shall let go,permitting the joists to dropwithout' dragging thewalls therewith. I

(Otherobjects of my invention', all forms of which may involve the useof retaining members whose outer ends are bent substan tially at rightangles to the longitudinal axis thereof; and means for automaticallydisconnecting'the same in case of'fire, or the like, (a fusiblememberbeingoptionally'employed at" the outer end of each retaining member):may bebestappreciated from the a following description of illustrativeembodiments" of my 'invention, taken in connection with I the appendedclaims and theaccompanyingdrawings inwhichi I j 'Fig,.'-1 is afragmentary vertieal section, showing a.- portion: of a. vertical wall'having one end of a joist securedtherein. 'Fi'g.'2 is a view'takensubstantially as indieated by the broken lines 2 2 of Fig; 1.

"FigIS-isa detail" view, on a larger scale,

corresponding: to a portion of'Fig. 2 near theright end thereof",partsbeing cut away to substantially the-plane indicated by the line 3-3 ofFig; 4. V I r Fig. 4 is a-view taken-substantially asindieatedbytheline4--4 of Fig. 8. x r Fig. 5 isa perspective viewshowing a preferredftype ofv fusible member, hereinaft-er referred to asemployed in organiza-' tions such as are illustrated in- Figs. 1-4 (andoptlonally also in such as are shown in 7 Figs. 6 and 7).

Fig. 6 is a'view. corresponding to Fig. 1, but'showing an alternativeform in which releaseof an anchor may be effected by a pivotal movementof a supporting wall.

joist, relative to the Fig. 7 is a detail view, taken substantiallyasindica'ted by the line 77 ofFig; 6;.

Flg. 8-is a view comparable with Figs. 1 and 6 but showing a furtheralternative embodiment of my invention. I

Fig. 9 showsyin perspective,ecertainirons suitablefor use. in thatembodiment of my invention illustrated in Fig. 8.

Fig; 10 is a View showing an alternative form of oneof the ironsdisclosed in Fig. 9. Referring to the details of that specificembodiment of my invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, I showwall 11 as providing a ledge or ledges 12 for the support of joists.18., or the like; and I may provide vJeachaof the latter 'with anchoringmeans comprlsing a retaining member 1 1, exten'd inglongitudinally'thereof and secured at its inner end in any suitableway,-as by means of an mbedded pin 15extending through: an eye l6,.thedirection in which the pin 15 extends being relatively immaterial exceptthat in case the retaining member 1 1- is intended to be capable of apivotal movement thereon (as may. be permitted byja slight clearance,such as is shown at 17, Fig. 2)

the-axis of said pin may advantageously be approximately vertical.

Whether or not the retaining member 1.4 is pivotally movable upon a pin15, or its equivalent. said member may be of such length and formas topermit the same to-be wedged out, by any suitablemeans, from a positionsuch as that in which it is shown in full lines in Fig. 2, (in which itmay beresiliently held) to a position such as that suggested by thedotted line 14; and, in case it is'desired to render this pivotal orother swinging movement contingent upon the occurrence of a fire, an.inwardly bent-end 18 of said retaining member (whether or not disposedas shown, at right angles thereto) maybe releasably secured by means ofthe general character best illustrated in Figs. 3 to 5 inclusive.

In the figures last referred to, I show the inwardly bent pin 18 asdisposed beside and as serving to retain a fusible member 19,

of somewhat special shape, adapted to interfit within a socket member20,-the latter being, in turn, retained within anopenmg or pocket 21,cut in each oist 13, either by means such as a drive fit orby means suchas mere screws or nails 22. In order that concurrent presence of thelaterally or inwardly bent end 18 of the retaining member 14:, or itsequivalent, shall assure a retention of the fusible member 19, under allnormal conditions, thereby effectively anchoring the joists 13, an innerportion 22 of said member may constitute a dovetail expansion; and, inorder that, upon melting of the fusible member 19, or its equivalent, anoutward pull upon the joist 13, or its equivalent, shall automaticallyforce the bent end 18 outward, permitting the joist to fall, theinterior of the socket member 20 may beso shaped as to provide not onlya cylindrical surface 23,

adapted to cooperate with a corresponding surface 28', providedby thefusible member 19, or its equivalent, in the retention of the bent end18, but also a protected web 24, including an inclined or wedge surface25, up which the said bent end may be forced to completely release anyjoist in case of a fire of suflicient intensity to melt the fusiblemember 19, or its equivalent.

In the alternative form illustrated in Fig. 6, I show a retaining'member14% as inwardly terminating in an eye 16, held by animbedded pin 15 butI show the bentend l8 as downwardly inclined in such manner that,whether or not a fusible plug organization of the described character isused therewith, an automatic disconnection may be effected, in case ajoist 13 swings downward in the manner suggested by the dotted line 13,a socket member 2,0 then disengaging said bent end and thereby enablingthe joist'13 to fall, without dragging the wall 11 therewith. 7

It will be seen that the socket members 20 may be provided withretaininglugs L,

vided with longitudinally-extending retaining members 1",which may besecured to the lower surfaces thereof by means comprising screws ornails 22" and/or inwardly bent ends 18"; and the straps 1 1 may benormally prevented from displacement rela of said wall;

tively to ledges 12 by means such'as pinand-slot connections at theinner ends thereof. For example, I may provide each strap 14 not onlywith holes forthe mentioned nails or screws and/or with an inwardly bentend 18 but also with a hole 16 near the inner end thereof, adapted toreceive a pin 15", projecting upwardly from an imbedded plate 15 Theplate 15 is shown as'having a downwardly turned inner end 15 ,a longerplate 15? being shown, in Fig. 10 as practically straight. V Although Ihave herein described several alternative embodiments of my invention,it should be understood not only that various tions might be devised bythose skilled in the features thereof are capable of independent use butthat numerous additional modificaart to which this case related-withoutthe slightestdeparture from the spirit and scope of this invention, asthe same is indicated above and in the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination: a wall providing a ledge for a joist; a joist whoseend normally rests on said ledge; a retaining member extendinglongitudinally of said joist, having opposite ends supported by saidjoist and said wall and adapted to normally retain said joist againstlongitudinal displacement; and fusible means, providing. a bearing forone end of said retaining member, adapted to automatically dis'connectthe same, in case of disaster, to

2. .In combination:

rests on said ledge; a retaining member extending longitudinally of saidjoist, .nor-' mally to retain the same against longitudinaldisplacement; and the fusible member mounted on said joist in releasableengage ment with said retaining member and adapted to form a bearingsurface between said retaining member andsaidjoist.

'3. In combination: a Wall, providing a ledge for a joist; a joist whoseend normally rests on said ledge; a retaining member extendinglongitudinally of said joist, normally to retain the sameagainstlongitudinal displacement; and a fusible member mounted on said joist inreleasable engagement with said retaining member; said fusible memberbeing provided with a dovetail expansion, and said joist bein providedwith a suitable non-fusible containing mem-.

ber adapted to receive said fusible member,- said longitudinal retainingmember having permit said joist to drop free a wall providing a ledgefor a oist; a joist whose end normally its outer end bent inwardly toprovide a bearing contact between said fusible member and saidlongitudinal member.

t. In a combination: a wallproviding a ledge for a joist; a joist, theend of which normally rests onsaid ledge; a retainingmember having aninner end supported by said wall and extending longitudinally of saidjoist, normally to retain the same against longitudinal displacement;and

a means for connecting said longitudinal retaining member with saidjoist; comprising a'pocket member imbedded in said joist, and anangularly extending pin, formed on the outer end of said extendingmember and adapted to be received by said pocket mem- 1 ber.

5. For use in combination with aretainof said retaining member; and afusible 5 7 part normally nterposed between said wedge surface and thereceived end of said retalning member.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles,California, this 20 29th day of December, 1926.

- FREDERICK, B. FORBES.

